The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?"
In what ways has the use of the dagger brought a "fatal vision" and an "heat-oppressed brain" to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth? What has happened to both of them because they killed? What is Shakespeare saying through these changes? (The deadline to post a response to this question is midnight, Saturday, October 15, 2011.)
3 comments:
The dagger is a fatal vision in that it brings death to those it touches. The dagger also brings a head oppressed brain by causing guilt and paranoia to those who used the dagger in an act of evil. Macbeth is constantly worrying that others are out to get him, and Lady Macbeth is disappointed that becoming queen was not what she thought it would be. Through all of this, Shakespeare reveals that you simply cannot change fate; if you try, you will be miserable and regret trying to play God.
First of all, the question is misleading. The illusion of the dagger *is* a fatal vision and comes *from* the heat oppressed brain. But the use of the true dagger has brought Macbeth a mind haunted with grief and paranoia, while Lady Macbeth has grown even further discontent with her life. Shakespeare uses these effects to show that when a person murders they are not only hurting others, but also themselves. According to Harry Potter, killing another splinters the murderer's very soul.
The dagger brings a fatal vision because Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are going to use it to kill Duncan. Also, the dagger brings an oppressed head by causing Macbeth to feel guilty for killing his king. Macbeth is feeling even more guilty since he has murdered Duncan, and he has become paraniod that someone is going to discover that he was the murderer. Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth does not feel guilty. Instead, she is unsatified with her life because she though being queen would be greater than what it really is. Shakespeare is showing through these changes, that what you do in life will effect you as well as others. Also, he shows that you have the ability to change you life if you want to.
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